No one was expecting Hearns to do Duran in like that. Duran was Duran and Hearns was in the midst of what appeared to be a bit of a "power shortage".

Duran could have fought McCallum for significantly less money, but no way he winds up on his face like that. He'd have lost a tough decision to Mike and not been blown away/humiliated....but what would have his options been after that?

No one was expecting Hearns to do Duran in like that. Duran was Duran and Hearns was in the midst of what appeared to be a bit of a "power shortage".

Duran could have fought McCallum for significantly less money, but no way he winds up on his face like that. He'd have lost a tough decision to Mike and not been blown away/humiliated....but what would have his options been after that?

It says in his book that duran struggled to make weight for the hearns fight most likely enjoying the spoils of the hagler purse.

Meh, Duran's legacy didn't drop a bit from that loss IMO. As Jabs stated, Hearns' right hand of death had been absent in several of his fights leading up to the Duran match, and I don't think anyone thought that Duran was going to get blown away the way he did.

A win over McCallum, while noteworthy, really wouldn't have done much in the long run for him. Hearns would have gone on to fight Hagler.